Israel to deport 100 Filipina workers and their children

Israel is to deport at least 100 migrant workers from the Philippines and their Israel-born children.

Israel grants visas to a quota of foreign workers every year, many of whom are women from the Philippines who work as caregivers. Israeli law states that a migrant worker is entitled to remain in the country with her baby until her visa expires, but the child is not granted Israeli citizenship.

Israel’s Population and Immigration Authority has now handed scores of Filipina women and their children deportation papers, requiring them to leave the country next month. Though the authority claims that “these are foreign nationals who’ve been here illegally for a long time, without any legal status,” according to an Haaretz report today the women’s visas “were not renewed because they gave birth [in Israel]”.

Haaretz estimates there are 1,478 children of foreign workers in Israel’s schools; all were born in Israel, while many speak Hebrew as their first language and have never been to the Philippines. Although the mothers have asked that they be allowed to remain in Israel long enough for their children to finish school, authorities plan to press ahead with the deportations.